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ELECTRIC LOCK. No. 477,898. Patented June 28, 189.2.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VILLIAM H. HOLLAR, OF ELIZABETH, NEV JERSEY, AND FREDERICK S. HOLMES, OFMALDEN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORS TO JAMES W. TORREY, OFMERCHANTVILLEQNEW JERSEY.

ELECTRIC LOC K.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 477,898, dated June 28,1892. Application filed February 3, 1890. SerialrNo. 338,956. (Nomodel.)

To all whom t may concern;

Be it known that We, WILLIAM H. HOLLAR, of Elizabeth, county of Union,State of New Jersey, and FREDERICK S. HOLMES, of Malden, county ofMiddlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in anElectrically Actuated Combination Lock and Method for Operating theSame, of which the following description, in connection with theaccompanyingdrawings,is a speciicatiomlike letters on the drawingsrepresenting like parts.

This invention has for its object to provide a novel apparatus andmethod for controlling combination-locks, such as employed in securingsafes or other receptacles.

Our invention consists, essentially, of a series of tumblers, abolt-locking lever or device operatively controlled by said tumblers, aratchet-wheel to control the position of the said tumblers, combinedwith an electro-magnet, its armature, and a paWl or pawls to operatesaid ratchet-wheel, substantially as will be described.

Other features of our invention Will be pointed out in the claims at theend of this specication.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of one form of electricallyactuatedcombination -lock embodying our invention. Fig. 1 is a detail View; Fig.2, a front view of the lock shown in Fig. 1, looking toward the right;Fig. 3, a diagram of circuits to more clearly illustrate the operationof our apparatus; Figs. 4, 5, and 6, details to be referred to, Fig. 6beinga section on line w Fig. 4.; Fig. 7, a front elevation of aInodiiied form of combination-lock; Fig. 8 a side elevation of the lockshown in Fig. 7.

In accordance with our invention each'safe or other receptacle haslocated Within it an electro-magnet, preferably a polarizedelectro-magnet of any usual or well-known construction, it being hereinshown as made of two coils a a and a permanent magnet a2, to one part ofwhich. is secured the said coils.

The polarized electro -magnet is herein shown as secured to a frame a3,(see Fig. 1,) having secured to or forming partl of it a bracket a, towhich is pivoted the armature a5, provided at its opposite ends withpawls a6 et, pivoted on said armature and normally forced forward bysprings as. The pawls a6 a7 are adapted to engage the teeth of aratchet-wheel c, mounted on a stud d10, projecting from the frame a3,and the said armature is kept in its normal position with the pawls outof engagement with the said ratchet-Wheel by a suitable spring orsprings w35, it being herein shown as normally maintained in its centralposition by spring-actuated rods or bars i12 als, constituting acentering device for the said armature, and at the same time a lockingdevice for the ratchet-Wheel, as Will be described.

The ratchet-Wheel is loose on the stud am and is provided, preferably,With a stud or pin @15, extended into a recess or groove on one face'ofa tumbler loose on the shaft ctw and marked 2O in Fig. 1, there beingfour tumblers herein shown. The tumbler 2O has v a shoulder 0,16, Fig.l, against which the pin als is brought into contact by the rotation ot'the said ratchet-Wheel. The remaining tumblers are provided in similarmanner with studs and grooves; but We do not desire to limit ourselvesto this specific form of tumbler, as any other usual or Well-known formmay be employed.

Each tumbler is herein shown as made in two parts, preferably, as disksb b', the disk b being of metal and provided with a socket or notchcontaining insulation b2, and the disk b being of insulating materialand provided, as shown, With a block b3 of metal.

Each tumbler has co-operating with it prefably four Wipers orcontact-brushes 12, 13, 14, l5, (see Figs. 1 and 3,) the Wiperl12 of thefirst tumbler being connected by Wire 16 (see Fig. 3) to the wiper 12 ofthe remaining tumblers, and the Wiper 13 of the irst tu niblerisconnected to a Wire b4, herein represented in Fig. 3 as joined to thepoles 514 Z915 of apolechanger forming part of a transmitting apparatus,substantially such as shown and described in the Letters Patent No.438,236, dated October 14, 1890. tumbler is connected to the Wiper 14 ofthe second tumbler by Wire 17, and so on, as

The Wiper 15 of the rst clearly shown in Fig. 3, the wiper 15 of thelast tumbler being connected by wire 55 to an auxiliary el cetro-magnet52, joined by Wire 517 to the Wire 54.

The magnet a of the polarized electro-mag net is shown in Fig. 3 asconnected by wire 57 to the wiper 12 of iirst tumbler and the magnet aby wire 52 to one strip 2 of a series of strips (marked 2 to 3,inclusive,) and constituting a commutator, with which co-operates aswitch-lever or brush 510, electrically joined by spring 512 and metalarm 520 to a break-Wh eel 521, with which cooperates a pen 522,connected by Wire 523 to the poles 524 525, with which co-operate thelevers Z926 527 of a pole-changer connected to abattery B, substantiallyas in an application, Serial No. 338,954,1iled by us February 3, 1890,to which reference may be had.

The auxiliary magnet 50 has its armature c operatively connected to thebolt-operating mechanism, which may be of any desired or usualconstruction, it consisting, as herein shown, of an elbow-lever c', (seeFig. 2,) pivoted, as at c2, and a bar or rod c2, pivoted to said lever,as at c4, the said rod or bar being shown in Fig. 2 as supported by asuitable guide c5 and provided with a suitable shoulder e0, normallyabutting against the guide c5 and constituting a stop for the outwardmovement of the rod c2, the end of the rod c2 being extended into thepath of movement of the rod c7, which may be supposed to be connectedwith t-he bolt-work of the safe.

As represented in Fig. 3, the commutator or switch is supposed tocontrol the unlocking of seven safes or vaults, there being sevencircuits connected to the commutator-strips, the Wire 54 forming acommon return for all the said circuits. Each circuit contains apolarized electro-magnet for operating the tum-A blers, which when inposition form a circuit either in series or in shunt with the firstcircuit for operating the lever controlling the bolt mechanism.

The combination of all the locks in all the circuits may be alike or thesaid combinations may be unlike.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows, viz: The operator closesthe circuit of the safe or vault Wit-h the commutator-strip connected incircuit with said safe, which, as represented in Fig. 3, is the strip 2.The break-wheel 521 is then set in motion by any suitable clockworkmechanism. (Not shown.) When the clock mechanism referred to is started,the levers 52G Z927 of the pole-changer are represented as brought in.engagement with the poles Z921 514 and the circuit of the polarizedmagnets a a is closed7 the magnet ct iu this instance attracting itsarmature and engaging the pawl a0 with the ratchet-wheel a2 and rotatingit one tooth. The circuit of the coils is broken as a tooth of thebreak-Wheel passes out of contact with the pen or brush 522, and at eachbreak in the circuit the armature a5 is restored to its normal orcentral position by the springs on the rods @12 (L12. The breakwheelZ921 continues to revolve in one direction until the ratchet-wheel a0has been revolved the' requisite number of times to bring the stud orpin 0,15 on the iirst tumbler (marked 55 in Fig. 1) into contact withthe arm d, (see Fig. 2,) secured to or forming part of a cap d,fast onthe shaft (L10. This position of the stud is indicated by a suitablepointer on the dial of a transmitting-instrument, asin Letters PatentNo. 438,236, referred to. As

soon as the stud or pin @L15 comes in contact with the arm d theoperator manipulates the pole-changer, as described in the said pat.-ent, to bring the levers 520 527 in contact with the poles 515 Z925, thebreak-Wheelat the same time being revolvedvin the opposite direc-Y tion.With the levers 526 527 in contact with the poles 515 525 themagnet-coil a is energized and the armature a5 attracted by the saidcoil and the ratchet-wheel a0 rotated in a direction opposite to that inwhich it was previously rotated, the circuit being traced from thepositive pole of the battery by wire e, lever 527 ole 525 wire 523 brush522 wheel 521, brush 520, Wire 13, spring Z912, switch-lever Z910,contact-strip 2, wire 58, through the coils a a, Wire 57, Wipers 12 13,wire 51, pole 15, Wire e to the negative pole of the battery. As thebreak-Wheel Z921 revolves under the brush 522, the circuit is broken, asdescribed,V

and the ratchet-wheel a0 is intermittently rotated to move the tumblersuntil the pin of the second tumbler strikes the shoulder of the firsttumbler 55, and so on. In this Way the ratchet-Wheel a0 is rotated inopposite directions a sufficient number of times to bring the metalblock 53 of each tumbler in contact with the pens or wipers 14 15co-operating therewith, and as soon as the tumbler 2O has been revolvedinto such position that its metal block 52 remains stationary under thepens 14 15 the circuit of the auxiliary magnet Z96 will be closed, themetal blocks of all the tumblers being at such time in contact with thepens or wipers 14 15.

The circuit of the auxiliary magnet may be traced as follows, (thelevers Z920 Z927 being in the position shown in Fig. 3:) from thepositive pole by Wire e, lever 27, pole 14, Wire 54, Wire 517, magnet50, Wire 55, Wiper 15, block 5Es of tumbler 20, wiper 14 to Wiper 15 oftumbler 57 by wire 17, thence in a similar manner through all thetumblers to wipers 12 of tumbler 55, wire 57, magnet-coils a a', Wire52, contact-strip 2, switch-lever 510, spring 512, Wire 512, brush 520,break-wheel 521, pen 522, wire Z923, pole 524, lever 520, wire e to thenegative pole of the battery. As soon as the circuit of the auxiliarymagnet f0 is closed, which is effected when all the tumblers have beenturned into such position that their metal blocks 53 are insubstantially the same horizontal line and in contact with theirco-operating wipers 14 15,

the armature c of the said auxiliary magnet is attracted and the lever cis turned on its pivot c2 and the rod c2 thus Withdrawn away from IOOIIO

the rod or-bar c7 of the bolt mechanism, thuslcaving the latter free'orunlocked, so that it willdrop into position to permit the bolt mechanismto be operatedA and the door unlocked.

Instead of operating the bolt mechanism by means of an auxiliary magnetit may be operated mechanically, substantially as shown in Figs. 7 andS, wherein the bracket a4 has pivoted upon it a lever g, havinglooselypivoted to it at its upper end a bent arm or gate g', extended over andso as to rest upon the peri pheries of the tumblers. In this case eachtumbler is provided with a notch g2, and when the notches of all thetumblers have been brought into line with eachother by means of theratchet-wheel e9, as above described, the arrn g falls by gravity intothe said notches, and when the armature is again retracted all the tumblers are moved simultaneously by the ratchet-Wheel in the direction toturn the lever g on its pivot and through the connecting-rod g3 operatethe bolt mechanism g5.

l. In an electrically-actuated combinationlock, a series of tumblersloosely connected, a bolt-locking lever or device operatively controlledby said tumblers, a single ratchet- Wheel controlling the said tumblers, combined With'an electro-magnet, its armature, and a pawl orpawls to operate said ratchet-wheel, substantially as and forthe purposespecified.

2. In an electrically-actuated combinationtrol the position of saidtumblers, an electromagnet, its armature, and pa'wl or paWls foroperating the said ratchet-wheel, an'electric 4o circuit for carryingthe current to operate said electro-magnet, and an electric circuit forcarrying a current to operate the auxiliary electro-magnet,substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. In an electrically-actuated combinationlock, the combination, with abolt-locking lever or device, of an auxiliary electro-magnet and-itsarmature, a series of electric-currenttransmitting tumblers, aratchet-Wheel to con- 5o trol the position of said tumblers, a polarizedelectromagnet,its armature and pawl or pawls for operating the saidratchet-Wheel, anvelectric circuit for carrying the current tooperatesaid polarized electro-magnet, and an electric 55 circuit for carrying acurrent to operate the auxiliary electro-magnet, substantially as andfor the purpose specitie In testimony whereof We have signed our namesto this specification in the presence of 6o two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM-H. HOLLAR.

FREDERICK S. HOLMES.

Witnesses:

GEO. W. ADAMS, BENJ. S. BANKS.A

